Most of my life I have heard, and therefore thought, of life in the sense of being a roller coaster ride. There are always the ups and downs, mountains and valleys, whatever you would like to call them. This seems to make sense, and I have felt lately that I may be in one of the down times, or valleys, as I have been struggling with some different life issues over the past few months. The problem with this "roller coaster" mentality is its oversimplification and thus, its inherent downfall.
I was recently blessed by an email I read before leaving for work one morning, forwarded by a friend in California I have not spoken to in some time. It was a blurb on Rick Warren, author of the best seller "The Purpose Driven Life". He presented a much more interesting, and I feel accurate protrayal of life, in terms of a railroad track rather than a roller coaster. His explanation of this included that life is generally not ALL bad or ALL good, but rather some of both going on simultaneously. I've pondered this thought over the past week and think Rick hit it right on the head. We may currently be up against one of the biggest storms or challenges of our life, but if you take the time to look, you will find that God always blesses us in the storm and in other areas of our lives as well. This small paradigm shift has really helped my perspective on my current struggles this week. As I have felt the pain in one specific area, I have also tried to open my eyes and heart to see and acknowledge that I am being continually blessed in so many other facets of life. So rather than feel that I am down in a pit or valley, I am choosing daily to believe that I am still cruising along the path God has laid out for me, and I may encounter a little bad on the left and a little good on the right, but never all or nothing on one side. Maybe it's just me, but I think I roll out of bed a little easier in the morning with this view of life, and Im happy to say I have thrown out the "roller coaster" mentality. What about you????
